Do social investment policies reduce income inequality? An analysis of industrial countries.

Autor/in	Sakamoto, Takayuki
Titel	Do social investment policies reduce income inequality? An analysis of industrial countries. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Verringern Sozialinvestitionen die Einkommensungleichheit? Eine Analyse der Industrieländer.
Quelle	In: Journal of European social policy, 31 (2021) 4, S. 440-456 PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1461-7269
DOI	10.1177/09589287211018146
Schlagwörter	Soziale Ungleichheit; Arbeitsmarktpolitik; Armut; Bildungspolitik; Einkommensverteilung; Familienpolitik; Öffentliche Ausgaben; Soziale Ungleichheit; Bildungspolitik; Auswirkung; Internationaler Vergleich; Elternzeit; Sozialinvestition; Verfügbares Einkommen; Elterngeld; Elternzeit; Familienpolitik; Armut; Industriestaat; Sozialinvestition; Einkommensverteilung; Verfügbares Einkommen; Verteilungseffekt; Öffentliche Ausgaben; Arbeitsmarktpolitik; Elterngeld; Internationaler Vergleich; Auswirkung; OECD (Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung); Allein erziehender Elternteil
Abstract	"Scholars and policymakers who call for social investment (SI) policies hope that SI policies reduce income inequality and poverty, among other policy goals. Meanwhile, some others point out potentially less pro-poor effects of SI policies. There are relatively few cross-national studies that empirically examine the distributional effects of SI policies. The current study seeks to fill the gap by investigating the effects of SI policies on income inequality in OECD countries. The empirical analysis finds mixed results. Parental leave benefits reduce market income inequality, but other family support policies do not lessen inequality, and family allowances and paid leave (the length of generous leave) even increase it. The effects of some family policies are partly context-specific. In contexts where there are a large number of single-mother households, parental leave benefits reduce market income inequality. There is no stable evidence that education and active labour market policy (ALMP) reduce market income inequality. Education and ALMP, however, reduce disposable income inequality (even after controlling for left governments and Nordic countries). The article suggests that in countries with high education and/or ALMP spending, the skills of workers towards the lower end of the income distribution may be relatively high (even though their pre-tax and transfer income may be low), and it may make their income salvageable with redistributive policies. In this sense, SI policies and conventional redistributive policies may be complementary in reducing disposable income inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku).
Erfasst von	Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg
Update	2022/2